Mary, Queen of Scots. The church of St John the Baptist was originally a dependent chapelry of Condover, and as such paid 10 shillings annually to the Shrewsbury Abbey, which had taken the advowson, or patronage, of the mother church. The church building, which seats 122, was restored in 1866, when the windows of the lower church were discovered. The then Rector, the Rev. Hon. C.W.A. Fielding, entered an account of the restoration, with illustrations, in the Vestry Book. A brass plaque commemorates Fielding's son, Lieutenant Bertram Francis Percy Fielding, Wiltshire Regiment, who was killed in a mutiny at Fort Lubwas in Uganda in 1897. In the churchyard is a war memorial stone Celtic cross to men of the parish who died serving in World War I. Domesday Book The Domesday Book of 1086 records Stapleton under the name Hundeslit. Stapleton was previously held as two manors by two Saxon franklins, Huning and Aelric and in 1086 it was divided between Roger Fitz Corbet and Alward the Saxon. It is likely that the mound near the Church may have been the site of one of the Saxon manor houses. The other manor house stood about a mile away, where the remains of the De Stapleton's house still exists. The place was first recorded as Stapleton in the reign of King Stephen, when Baldwin de Meisy was Lord of Stapleton and Wistanstow. His descendants, who took the name of De Stapleton, held the manor till the beginning of the 15th century, when it passed to six co-heiresses, the daughters of Sir John Stapleton. Notable people Hugh Owen (topographer) (1761-1827), was Rector of Stapleton from 1819. See also Listed buildings in Condover References Further reading External links Condover Parish Council OS map link Villages in Shropshire Former civil parishes in Shropshire